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“We will not let them launch rockets at our children!” the warning came from Sderot's Mayor Elon Davidi to the Palestinian terrorists in Gaza who were launching over 100 rockets and mortars at his town. Israeli aircrafts went into action, and despite the thick fog and heavy rain, they targeted over thirty terrorist targets on the other side of the border. But it was the greatest deluge of rockets from Gaza since Israel conducted the Pillar of Defense operation to suppress similar rocketing in November, 2012. Since being hit hard at that time, the Hamas regime has abided by the ‘tahadiya’ cease-fire, except for the occasional rocket.

It was potentially the most dangerous Palestinian attack since U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry started his current mission to conclude a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. This was the scene:

Early on the afternoon of December 21st, an Israeli bus is traveling in the Tel Aviv suburb of Bat Yam. A youngster notices an unattended black bag, which had been placed near the rear door of the bus. Israelis are understandably wary of such situations. So the teenager points it out to fellow passenger, David Papo, who immediately gets up and approaches the suspicious object. Moving gingerly, Papo opens the bag and the yells to the bus driver, "It’s a bomb!" Driver, Michael Yeager, hits the breaks, opens the bus doors, and yells to his passengers, "Get out!"

Has Moscow finally got the message? Israel cannot and will not tolerate the deployment of Russian-made S-300 anti-aircraft missiles in Syria. If Moscow will not deliver the system to President Bashar Assad's regime before 2014, Israelis can breathe easier. Those missiles, which would threaten civil and military aircraft flying over Israel, could be a real game changer. Therefore, Israel is not bluffing even if it means a dangerous confrontation with the Russians. (Prior to the Yom Kippur War of 1973, Israel ignored the Egyptian Army's surreptitious movement of Russian SAM anti-aircraft missiles into the Suez Canal zone in flagrant violation of the 'cease-fire in place'. When the Egyptians later launched their surprise attack they had an aerial umbrella in place that protected their ground forces crossing the waterway. The IDF paid a heavy price in blood when those missiles wreaked havoc on Israeli jets trying to assist the vastly outnumbered IDF soldiers on the eastern side of the Canal.) Moreover, an S-300 system in Syria could threaten any future preventative Israeli strike against Iran's nuclear weapons program as well as instigating both Hezbollah and Hamas in Gaza to step up their attacks on the Jewish state.

Isracast: Yair Lapid Has Guts In Accepting Problematic Finance Portfolio - Israel Will Be Watching If He Also Has Brains & Political Savvy To Cope With Huge Deficit Left By Outgoing Netanyahu Administration

Yair Lapid has apparently resolved the current coalition crisis in Israel by agreeing to accept the Finance Portfolio in the new Netanyahu cabinet. It's still not official, but reliable sources on both sides are signaling the two leaders have now overcome this hurdle. When they meet again, they are also expected to agree on the numbers of ultra-orthodox men who will start serving in the IDF. Lapid, leader of 'There's a Future' party may be on his way to becoming Israel's next political hero or a washed-up politician, it will all depend on how he fares as new Finance Minister.

The timing is critical - smack in the middle of Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu's complex coalition consultations U.S. President Barack Obama announces a long overdue visit to Israel. Both the White House in Washington and Bibi's backers in Jerusalem are playing down any notion of a new U.S. peace initiative for Israel and the Palestinians. Perish the thought! But in international relations, actions speak louder than words.

With Israeli society more polarized than ever, a staunchly right-wing government is only more likely to exacerbate these divisions. Gilead Sher and Olivia Holt-Ivry discuss the elections in Israel.

Projecting elections is a risky task, even more so in Israel. At the end of the dramatic 1996 Election Day, the public went to bed with expectations of Shimon Peres as the next prime minister, only to awaken the following morning to Binyamin Netanyahu having won by a slim 30,000 votes. Beating all political commentators, politicians and analysts, the outcome of those elections — held after the traumatic assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin — should be a lesson in humility when predicting developments in the Israeli political arena. Consequently, the following is a guide for perplexed observers, rather than a projection of the general elections’ results.

While Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu portrayed the new Likud list as 'a strong young national team', Labor's Shelly Yachimovich has blasted it as 'an extreme Right wing party with no social agenda'.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak probably left political life after his successful contribution to the recent Gaza operation before his party's poor showing in upcoming election. But he has also left his options open for a possible Netanyahu offer to return as defense minister if he forms the next government.

Tzipi Livni has entered the campaign claiming only she can attract moderate Likud supporters who are turned off by the new Likud ticket.

Israeli voters are going to an early election, probably some time in February. In a statement to the nation, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu blamed his coalition partners for refusing to put their party interest above the national interest - they had refused to agree on drafting a responsible state budget. Netanyahu's decision had been widely expected and came as no surprise to the Israeli people. IsraCast analyst David Essing says the PM's announcement has implications for the current crisis with Iran - it is highly improbable that Netanyahu would press for an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear target's during an Israeli election campaign.

By chance or design, President Barack Obama has bowed out of the war of rhetoric with Israel on when, if at all, to bomb Iran. So with Obama on the hustings Gen. Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the U.S. Joints of Staff, has stepped in as Obama's point-man. Arriving on a trip to Afghanistan, Dempsey said he consulted bi-weekly with his Israeli counter-part Gen. Benny Gantz: 'We compare intelligence, we discuss regional implications and we've admitted that our clocks are turning at different rates. And Dempsey admitted candidly: 'They (the Israelis) are living with an existential concern that we are not living with'. Analyst David Essing says this is the crux of the controversy between Jerusalem and Washington over what to do about Iran's relentless drive for nuclear weapons, in spite of the latest international sanctions.

'We do not see the latest sanctions or the new nuclear talks stopping Iran's nuclear weapons project' - Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak has stated this publically and privately. On the other hand, American officials have told the New York Times that an Israeli military strike against Iran 'could leave hundreds of Americans dead'. Other U.S. and Western sources have also been leaking information designed to influence the Israeli government and public opinion. Meanwhile, Iranian President Mahmoud Achmadinejad has declared: 'No one will stop Achmadinejad from building a nuclear weapon any time he decides to do so!' On the eve of a new round of nuclear talks, analyst David Essing is of the view that paradoxically the Iranian regime and the Obama administration are both interested in playing for time, albeit for different reasons.

Israeli leaders are now going back to the drawing board for drafting a new policy for prisoner exchanges. In a media blitz to the Israeli public, Defense Minister Ehud Barak has indicated the government will not carry out another lopsided prisoner swap - 1027 Palestinian terrorists for one kidnapped IDF soldier. After remaining silent during the recent public debate, Opposition leader Tzipi Livni of the Kadima party has now condemned the exchange as a blow to Israel that has strengthened Hamas and weakened the more moderate West Bank President Mahmoud Abbas.

All quiet on Israel's new front with Egyptian-controlled Sinai and Hamas-dominated Gaza, but for how long? The eight days of violence, triggered by the deadly Sinai attacks that killed eight Israelis, has strained Israeli- Egyptian relations more than any thing else since the signing of the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty in 1979. Israel's top analysts have been assessing the current state of affairs after the border clash and the Palestinian diplomatic steps at the UN for recognition of a Palestinian state on the lines of 1967. David Essing sums up the views of Dr. Dore Gold, a former UN Ambassador and head of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs who has documented Al Qaeda's recent move into Sinai.

Israel's Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu went into the White House on the brink of a bitter crisis with U.S.President Barack Obama. This time it was not over West Bank settlements but Obama's setting the 1967 border as baseline for a Palestinian peace agreement. While still in Israel, Netanyahu had immediately rejected it in no uncertain terms. Fireworks were in the offing at a time the Jewish state needed U.S. support in the face of a successful Palestinian campaign to acquire UN General Assembly this fall for recognition of a Palestinian state on the 1967 border. However after the meeting, when the two leaders appeared together before the media, both Obama and Netanyahu parted as friends and agreed to work for an Israeli- Palestinian peace agreement despite their differences. Analyst David Essing has this appraisal.

Barring last minute developments, Maj. Gen. Benny Gantz will reportedly become the new IDF Chief of Staff after Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein disqualified Maj.Gen. Yoav Gallant. However Gallant has not given up - in TV interviews he declared: 'I never lied, deceived or acted dishonorably in the land dispute near my home'. Nonetheless, Gen. Gallant is fighting a rear guard action against overwhelming odds, despite growing public support for his case. David Essing has this assessment of the controversial affair that has rocked the IDF and the entire country.

Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders have put a brave face on U.S. President Barack Obama's historic speech in Cairo. However, the new American leader has called on Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to make the first major concession on the explosive settlement issue in order to restart the stalled Israeli- Palestinian peace effort. In Jerusalem, Obama is perceived as sending a diktat to Israel or else be held responsible for sabotaging America's entire Middle East policy.

After failing to draw Kadima and Labor into his government, the Likud's Binyamin Netanyahu has started negotiations with his right wing partners on drafting the foreign policy and domestic guidelines for his new coalition. Meanwhile, an Israeli press report says U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has chastised the current Israeli government for not allowing food products such as pasta to enter the Gaza Strip. Could this be a veiled hint to the incoming prime minister? IsraCast analyst David Essing assesses the situation as Netanyahu sets about forging guidelines for his right wing coalition.

This weekend, the U.S presidential election campaign draws to a close while Israel's gets on their way. In both campaigns, Israel's future will be intertwined in more ways than one. IsraCast looks at the American ballot on November 4th and Israel's poll is now set for February 10th.

Tzipi Livni has barely won the leadership race in Israel's ruling Kadima party weakening her chances of swiftly forming a new coalition government to replace the current cabinet headed by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Her potential partners Labor and Shas are talking tough. IsraCast forecasts that although this may be political posturing before the coalition negotiations, Livni may face a difficult task in forming a new coalition government.

Facing a plethora of police investigations, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has finally bowed out. In his ruling Kadima Party, front runners Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz, a former defense minister and IDF Chief of Staff', are now vying openly for party leadership and the chance to lead a new government coalition without going to an early election. However, IsraCast raises the possibility that Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, of the Shas ultra- orthodox Sepharadi party, may eventually determine who will become prime minister.

On July 12th 2006, Hezbollah launched a deadly cross border raid from south Lebanon ambushing an IDF motorized patrol, killing several soldiers and abducting two others, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev. Simultaneously, Iran's proxy, the Hezbollah forces inside south Lebanon launched a massive rocket attack on towns and villages in northern Israel. It was an attack that triggered the Second Lebanon War. IsraCast analyzes the strategic situation two years later amid the Iranian nuclear threat that may soon face the Jewish state.